All over but the counting
Massive turnout weighs on two referendums: Fair Tax and Trump; Biden wins state, Durbin reelected
Illinoisans cast votes in massive numbers in the 2020 election — not necessarily on Tuesday. (One Illinois/Ted Cox)
By Ted Cox
It’s all over but the counting. And the counting goes on.
Illinoisans cast votes in massive numbers in the 2020 general election — perhaps not at the polls on Tuesday, but throughout early and mail-in balloting.
At the top of the ballot were two key referendums: the Fair Tax Amendment, determining whether the state can adopt a graduated income tax, and the presidential election between President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden, which amounted to a referendum on the last four years of the Trump administration.
The Fair Tax advocated by Gov. Pritzker lost, as backers conceded the election Wednesday morning. But the count went on in several states in the presidential election.
The outcome in that race was expected to be clear, at least where Illinois was concerned, and that turned out to be the case. Biden was expected to post an easy majority and claim the state’s 20 votes in the Electoral College, and the Associated Press called the state for the Democrat shortly after 8 p.m. It was left to the rest of the country to determine the winner, which was not determined Tuesday night, as election boards are struggling across the nation to deal with a record number of mail-in ballots in the pandemic.
As of midnight Central time, with 86 percent of the vote tallied, Biden had 54.7 percent to Trump’s 43.5 percent in Illinois. That held Wednesday, with Biden leading 55 to 43 percent.
Across the nation, though, the presidential race appeared to come down to the so-called Democratic blue wall of Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin — all won by Trump in 2016. Trump led in all late Tuesday, but with votes outstanding in the major population centers. Biden pulled ahead in Wisconsin with reports from Milwaukee early Wednesday, and Michigan soon followed.
It appeared Wednesday morning that, as ballots continued to be counted, whoever won two of those three states would be declared the president-elect.
Biden expressed confidence, telling backers just before midnight Central time: “We feel good about where we are. We really do. … We believe we’re on track to win this election.
“It ain’t over until every vote is counted — every ballot is counted,” Biden added. “We’re feeling real good about Wisconsin and Michigan. …. It’s going to take time to count the votes, but we’re going to win Pennsylvania.”
Biden told backers: “Keep the faith guys. We’re going to win this.”
Trump tweeted in response: “We are up BIG, but they are trying to STEAL the election. We will never let them do it. Votes cannot be cast after the Poles are closed!”
Trump made a statement at the White House shortly after 1:30 a.m. Central time. According to The New York Times, he “falsely declared himself the winner” and said he would call on the Supreme Court to stop counting ballots in states where he led, while urging more counting in states where he was behind. He claimed “fraud” (for which there is no evidence) and called the election an “embarrassment to the country.”
No votes were being cast after polls closed; they were being counted in several states. It was major Illinois unions that charged Monday that Trump was out to steal the election, and they planned to rally Wednesday evening in Chicago.
Back in Illinois, AP also called the race for U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, winning reelection for his fifth term. He earned a 52 percent majority to Mark Curran’s 41 percent.
While the Fair Tax Amendment would have set tax rates in which 97 percent of Illinois taxpayers pay the same or less than under the state’s current 4.95 percent flat tax, with only those making more than $250,000 a year paying more, ratification was never certain, as it requires a 60 percent supermajority to alter the state constitution. It could also have passed if a majority of ballots are marked “yes” on the issue, but that only makes the count more complicated.
With 98 percent of votes tallied, votes against the amendment were in the majority, at 55 percent, with just 45 percent voting yes.
Quentin Fulks, executive director of Vote Yes for Fairness, an advocacy group backed by Pritzker, issued a statement Wednesday conceding defeat. “We are undoubtedly disappointed with the result but are proud of the millions of Illinoisans who cast their ballots in support of tax fairness in this election,” he wrote. “Illinois is in a massive budget crisis due to years of a tax system that has protected millionaires and billionaires at the expense of our working families, a crisis that was only made worse by the coronavirus pandemic. Republican legislators and their billionaire allies who brought us the dysfunction and pain of the Rauner years continue to stand in the way of common-sense solutions, choosing instead to play partisan games and deceive the working families of our state. Now lawmakers must address a multibillion-dollar budget gap without the ability to ask the wealthy to pay their fair share. Fair Tax opponents must answer for whatever comes next.”
John Bouman, chairman of Vote Yes for Fair Tax, a group backing the measure, followed with a statement saying: “Millions of Illinoisans supported tax fairness and funding fairness by voting yes for the Fair Tax Amendment that would cut taxes for the 97 percent of Illinoisans who make less than $250,000 a year, require the wealthiest top 3 percent to pay their fair share, and raise billions of dollars to invest in schools, health care, and jobs in every part of the state.
“The opponents of tax fairness, the millionaires and billionaires who are desperate to protect their own special deal, poured millions of dollars into false attacks designed to frighten and confuse voters.
"Although the outcome is not what we wished, moving Illinois toward tax fairness while funding important priorities in every community is the work our coalition has been doing for years, and we will continue.”
The referendum appeared to drive Republican turnout statewide, as Democratic U.S. Reps. Sean Casten of Downers Grove, Lauren Underwood of Naperville, and Cheri Bustos of Moline were all involved in close races for reelection, although Bustos and Casten both declared victory at the end of the night. State Sen. Jim Oberweiss led Underwood by fewer than 100 votes, indicating a recount. Democrat Marie Newman won election in the south suburbs after defeating U.S. Rep. Dan Lipinski in the primary in March. Republican Mary Miller won in the 15th Congressional District, replacing the retiring John Shimkus. U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis again won reelection over Betsy Dirksen Londrigan.
Illinois Supreme Court Justice Thomas Kilbride also was hurt by the same sort of big-bucks TV campaign that the Fair Tax faced. With 96 percent of votes counted, Kilbride was backed by 55.3 percent of voters, but needed to hit 60 percent to earn retention.
Gov. Pritzker warned Monday that results may not be completed Tuesday, and it could be later this week before some races and ballot issues are determined — in Illinois and across the nation.
Turnout ran high across the state. The Chicago Board of Election Commissioners reported that the city alone topped 1 million votes by late afternoon Tuesday. In something of a surprise, millennials in the 25-34 age rage made up the largest voting bloc, having cast more than 200,000 ballots. The city was headed for a 70 percent turnout.
Ahead of Election Day, the Illinois State Board of Elections reported that 2.4 million ballots had been mailed to voters and 1.8 million returned, with an estimated 587,000 ballots still pending. Voters were permitted to bring those unsubmitted ballots with them to vote in person on Tuesday.
But with 1.8 million votes cast in early voting, that state had already logged 3.6 million ballots ahead of Election Day.
A record 8.3 million Illinoisans registered to vote in the general election. According to the board, presidential elections averaged a 73 percent turnout from 1976 through 2016, with the election four years ago producing a 70.6 percent turnout statewide. The state was still under 50 percent heading into Tuesday.